Last Sunday we announced that the building project fundraising had hit $400,000.
This includes bequests set aside, interest on assets, pledges, gifts, successful trust applications and some interest free loans. This totals 80% of the estimated cost and was the figure we had said we needed to reach in order to start building. It's a fantastic response and thanks to all those who have given in prayer, leadership, finances and faith.
It means we can take the next step - drawing up detailed plans, approaching Council and starting to think about the tender and building process!! This week the architect began work. If things go smoothly, we could be building in the new year.
The building project began in prayer. It needs to continue in prayer. As we move into this new phase, I am calling an all-church prayer meeting for the next two Sunday mornings (June 29 and July 6), 9:30-10:20 am, in the 24/7 prayer room. We follow a God who is just as interested in the detail of plans and consent applications as anything else. The big picture of God's Kingdom come is always made present in the detail of our everyday lives, finances and forward planning. So Opawa Baptist, you are invited to haul yourself out of bed on a frosty winter's morning as together we seek God for smooth processes into the next stage of our building project.
While we start, we still need to continue fundraising. First up is a comedy and dessert evening on July 26. Our hope is that a high-quality comedy night is something we can easily and naturally invite friends to and thus serves as a way of shifting the fundraising away from the pockets of us at Opawa. If all of us can simply find two friends with a sense of humour and needing a cheery laugh in the middle of winter, we could fill the church and raise some $4,000. Tickets and promotional information are available at the door, all individually named. Please take yours.